AVP - Torchwood Rewrite and also Part 2 Predator Verse
by Awatere11
Summary: So I have done a rewrite of AVP in the Predator Verse I created in Part 1, Predatory Nature. I hope it flows, wanted to do this movie and also wanted to continue the Verse, thought it was a good meld. Hope you like it, if you have not read part one it will not matter, this will work on it's own if you accept Ianto as a BAMF. ALT VERSE OK?
1. Chapter 1

So I was going through the DVD library in my house and thinking of what to do next ... thought to myself that I can't do the Predator movies as I already have a verse in it ... then wondered what would happen if I just joined my Verse and the movies together? So ... AVP Torchwood Style ... Predator Ianto style. If you've not read part one Predatory Nature you will not know that Ianto is now part Predator and he and Jack have a son called Tucker. Rumtuck is the Predator whose heart Ianto now lives with in his chest. Maddy is the name of the Predator who saved Ianto, Rumtuck's sister who chose him as the recipient of the heart. You do not need to have read the first part to enjoy this one ... but maybe go back later eh?

So ... this is an Alternate Universe OK? Not screaming becuase I have Weyland in RL ... this is a Verse where anything can happen with my weird mind.

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1

A glacial ice cover stretches for miles. The last frontier on earth is a harsh land of snow and ice.

Creeping slowly over a graveyard of skeletal remains. Bones and shards of bones protrude from the snow like small flags. And beyond those bones lies blood, darkly rich in color, soaking deep into the once pristine snow. This is fresh blood.

A barn or a structure resembling a barn lives on the edge of the sea covered in snow and surrounded by enormous tabular icebergs. This structure has been bruised by the hands of time, the weight of endless falling snow that gathers on its roof and the wicked wind of this, the coldest place on earth.

Smoke pours from a chimney.

The "barn" building is surrounded by two smaller buildings on a narrow street in this tiny shack of a town. Smoke rises from boiling kettle drums, a steam engine drives a small conveyor belt endlessly round. There is no sign of human life. Suddenly from nowhere, Borris, a tough, bearded, strapping whaler, appears. He's out of breath as if something has been chasing him but we don't see anything except the terror on his face. He's dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and is freezing to death. His hands and arms resemble frozen sausages. They are wickedly frostbitten. The veins on his arms look like long, thin rivers. His face is a deep rich frosted blue.

Borris starts to edge down the main street, sensing that something may be watching him. He passes a smaller shack, through the window a copy of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds can be seen lying on a desk next to a flickering oil lamp. He hears something. Stops. He looks over to the greenhouse building. He moves towards it. He looks in horror as he sees a Bloody Handprint, frozen on a shattered window pane.

Panicking he runs down a side passage between two larger buildings. He stops not daring to go forward. He slowly starts to back down the alley, until his feet trip across a wooden sledge. Borris falls to the ground amongst the empty dog harnesses. He senses something under the closest building, and peers into the darkness. A movement and then suddenly a sled dog jumps out from the gloom, barking fiercely. The dog is tied to a post. He hastily gets up and backs up into the mess hall.

Borris enters the mess hall, slamming the door shut behind him. He looks up to see, swinging from hooks, harpoons, lances and hatchets. Exhausted. Freezing. He peers into the room. Oil lamps flicker throwing shadows across the walls. Pans boil on the stove, overflowing and spitting. A forgotten kettle steams, ready to whistle. The place is empty.

Then unexpectedly a shadow moves and an ALIEN tail flicks behind him.

Borris does not notice.

We do.

He moves deeper into the mess hall. Forty bowls and drinking jugs sit on the long empty tables prepared for a crew of forty men that are nowhere to be seen.

Borris' eyes do a scan of the entire room but nothing is there. A blur passes in front of a mirror distorting the outline of Borris. Slowly he turns around to find himself staring at something we don't see. He looks up in horror. He backs up, falling over a table bench. He's on the ground. We hear a sharp metallic sound. In the foreground Predator Blades now hellishly frame Borris as he scurries back. He can go no further. He's helpless. The shadow of a Predator spreads over Borris's terrified face. Three laser dots scan across Borris, passing over his face.

In Predator Vision we see Borris, he is frozen with fear. But then the image reforms and scans an area over Borris' shoulder. There is nothing there. The image rescans and reveals a Xenomorph, nearly subliminal imagery. The twin mouths open and prepare to strike. The Alien lunges towards the Predator.

Twin blades on the Predator's wrist come scything down.

Their razor-sharp edges catching the light. Straight toward the Alien.

Another Predator watches Impassively, then turns to the one standing next to her.

"We need to get Brother"

"Agreed"


	2. Chapter 2

2

Ianto is climbing the Khumba ice waterfall, a four thousand foot frozen waterfall that begins eighteen thousand feet in the air and crests at twenty-two thousand feet.

Ianto has nearly reached the top, his mind focused on a specific rhythm and routine. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. Calm, deliberate, always careful to keep his balance. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. He is meticulous in every step.

Ianto anchors his safety line by screwing an ice screw into the face of the waterfall. Grains of snow fall over his face as the screw is driven in. Water trickles deep within the ice.

Ianto relaxes for a second as the carabiner snaps shut and secures him to the anchor. Hard wind blows over. Other than that sound, everything is quiet on the ice climb.

He catches his breath and starts again. Swing the axe, kick the crampon, pull and move up. Again. And again. And again. He stops. Right at the edge of the top. he takes a minute to look at the world from here - His moment of peace is shattered by modern communication.

His GSM phone rings. He's clearly surprised that anyone should be calling. Jack would use the coms and Maddy …. well, she just has to tap him on the shoulder, standing there cloaked at the top waiting for him. Her Majesty has her own ring tone and an unknown number on the screen does not bode well.

Ianto checks the number, doesn't recognize it, but the phone won't stop ringing. He takes an earpiece and carefully slides it into his ear. "Who is this?"

The voice on the other end is liquid velvet cut with a crystal clear English accent. "Mister Jones ... a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Clifton Stafford …I represent Weyland Industries."

"Let me guess" Ianto snorts as this game is getting tiring. They had been trying to get information on Aliens for some time, even resorting to legal measures that Her Majesty kept shutting down. "you're suing us again?"

"You misunderstand ... I speak for Mr. Weyland himself."

"What's one of the world's biggest Anti-Torchwood naysayers want with us?" Ianto snorted "The last letter was more than informative with those special words he had clearly researched. Still wants to drag us through the mud to prove the entire thing is a huge hoax for taxpayer's money?"

"Mr. Weyland's interest is in you personally. He's offering to fund the foundation with which you are associated for a full year ... if you'll meet with him." the man wheedles and Ianto realises that he thinks Ianto Is the Archaeologist that the fake profile Toshiko set up claims him to be. Best way to hide is in plain sight and with Ianto swanking about the place, a cloaked Predator or two can easily slide into meetings on the latest Xenomorph attack and such. UNIT have NO idea how much stealth these things have, especially the hybrid currently screwing his face up as he looked up at the clouds.

Ianto hesitates for a moment. This is like making a deal with the Devil. He glances up at the still cloaked Predator and she shrugs to show she isn't interested either way. But … maybe he is "When?"

"Tomorrow." the reply is quick and needy. Tells him that whatever it is … it's not pretty.

Ianto hesitates again.

"... But tomorrow's going to be a problem." Earpiece in, Ianto continues climbing the last few feet. "Take me a week to get back to the World."

"I told Mr. Weyland that."

Ianto swings the axe, kicks the crampon, pulls and moves up. "What did he say?"

Annoyed, Ianto pulls himself up and over the ridge ignoring the hand held out by his 'sister' and as he looks up at her he becomes aware of something. There is something amusing her no end. Why is she still bloody cloaked?

"He said he didn't have a week."

And Ianto stands up, unhooks his safety lines and finds himself staring at a perfect pair of Qxford Brogues, belonging to Clifton, an elegant man.

A Bell 212 Helicopter sits behind him. All waiting for Ianto's arrival. He's speechless.

Jack is NOT going to like that and as he watches the man confidently stride towards him he knows they have no idea a Predator stands between them or that the man they are about to ask for assistance in the capture and/or elimination of said creatures is … in fact … if you want to split hairs … one.

Ianto smiles politely as he accepts the offered hand and wonders what would happen if he calmly severs it at the wrist, his smile wider.

"Mister Jones, sorry about this but Mister Weyland is …"

"Oh I know what he is. We've met before" Ianto cut him off. "Bet he doesn't even remember me."

The pale look of shock tells him he is right.

Idiots have no idea what they are inviting over the threshold.

Ianto is intrigued.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Weyland, in his forties, looks more like a big game hunter than the billionaire that he is.

An assistant hands a Tablet PC to everyone in the room as Weyland nods to Max to fire up a digital projector, lluminating a large square of the peeling metal wall behind Weyland.

"Thank you all for coming. Seven days ago one of my satellites over Antarctica was hunting for mineral deposits when a sudden heat bloom beneath the earth outlined this..." An image comes up on the wall behind Weyland. Ianto's seen it before.

A PATTERN OF INTERLOCKING SQUARE SHAPES.

An intense ripple of excitement spreads through the room.

"The red lines indicate solid walls. Through thermal mapping we've generated a rough three dimensional image of the structure. It's massive ... Containing hundreds of rooms, all built around a central core. My experts tell me it's a pyramid. What they can't agree on is who built it and when." Weyland gushes as Ianto glances at Maddy, her clawed hands clenching as she stares at what Is clearly one of their pyramids upside-down.

"What caused the heat bloom?" James asks, a small man who is clearly ex-military.

"We don't know." Weyland replies, his face one of glee.

Jethro, a tall lanky historian who fancies himself as a bit of an Indiana Jones without the flare, clicks past the photographs on his tablet PC. ""One expert tells me that this feature is reminiscent of the Aztecs. (snaps slide) Another tells me that this is probably Cambodian. (snaps slide) But everyone agrees that the smooth side is definitively Egyptian. "

Gordon screams of UNIT as he stands at ease "Why would anyone build a pyramid out here?"

James answers as Ianto mentally memorises the photos and information streaming across the screen, Maddy stepping closer so only Ianto can see her shimmering anger "Ancient maps show Antarctica free of ice. It's likely that the continent was once habitable."

"Mr. De Rosa?" Max asks and Jethro steps closer to the wall, examining the pictures and comparing them with the pictures on his tablet PC.

"I think your experts are right." Jethro finally says with a nod.

"Which one?" Weyland asks.

"All of them." Jethro enthuses "The Egyptians, the Cambodians and the Aztecs all built pyramids. Three separate cultures that lived thousands of miles apart …"

James cuts in with an incredulous snort "with no communication between them."

"Yet what they built was almost identical." Jethro nods.

"Meaning what exactly?" Weyland asks as Ianto takes a physical step back from the conversation. He knows what he is seeing, knows what they are about to ask and he does not want to take part in this. Maddy's stance tels him this is Predator teritory and if it is ... there will be little shits too.

"This might be the first pyramid ever built." Jethro points at the screen.

"Built by whom?" Weyland asks slowly, clearly knowing the answer and engaged.

Jethro can barely contain his excitement. "The master culture from which all others are derived."

Everyone in the room is stunned bar the two Predators now moving for the door.

"If it could be the first pyramid, it could also be the last." Weyland argues "An amalgam of the ones that came before it. There's no proof of any connection between the cultures. Mister Jones? Going somewhere?"

"This photo is the proof." Jethro huffs.

"Thank you." Weyland sighs almost orgasmically.

Gordon cuts in "Um...I can't tell you who built it but if I could take a sample from it, I could tell you how old it is. "

"Within how many years, Professor?" Max finally speaks.

"Actually, it's Doctor." Gordon bristles and Ianto wonders if he knows how pompous he sounds "And I'll give you the exact year."

"Well Doctor Gordon, I'm offering to put you right next to this thing." Weyland smiles, then tunres to see Ianto is closer to the door.

"Where exactly on the ice is this?" James asks.

"Bouvetoya Island." Weyland says while crooking a finger at Ianto, then frowning "But it's not on the ice. It's two thousand feet under it. (next picture) Directly below this abandoned whaling station which will serve as our base camp."

"Mr. Quinn." Max says calmly.

Quinn steps forward from his men. It's clear that Quinn and his men are a tight group that keep to themselves. "Mr. Stafford, you're looking at the best drilling team in the world. We'll chew to that depth in seven days."

Sven, Boris and Mikkel nod in agreement.

"That's why I invited you here." Weyland smiles and Maddy touches Ianto's arm softly in warning. "Mister Jones? Care to come ride the whirlwind? There be beasties!"

"Find another guide." Ianto calmly replies and he walks out.

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Ianto is packing his things. Max appears in the doorway. "Spoke with Mister Weyland. Money's been wired to your account. Chopper's refueling to fly you back home."

Ianto resists the urge to tell him it is not needed, a vessel in orbit is descending to pick him and Maddy up already but maybe it is best he move them from the main group before retrieval. He knows Jack is already screaming with rage at the snatch and grab.

Ianto stands apparently alone on the deck, thinking and watching. Maddy is off to one side in communication with the mother ship, no doubt they are pissed that another illegal hunt has been detected. Ianto is restless, Tuck will be wanting his bath and cuddles, a cheeky little almost one year old demon.

A powerful X-class flare erupts from the sky, accompanied by a mass ejection.

Gordon says from behind Ianto In a dry and precise voice "It's in the upper atmosphere. Streams of protons and electrons from the sun are deflected by the earth's magnetic field causing a solar radiation storm."

Ianto turns to see Jethro and Gordon as he resists the urge to say it is just the thrusters from an Away Vessel. They join him on the deck, one on each side of him. Gordon has his camera out.

"It's beautiful. Even the way you describe it, professor." Jethro says softly.

"Actually, it's Doctor." Gordon corrects with another sniff "What do you think Mister Jones?"

"I think you have no idea the shitstorm descending" Ianto replies with equal distain "After all … It's not Mister … or Doctor either."

"Then what is your title?"

Ianto cants his head as he wonders if he should stick with this.

"Agent"


	4. Chapter 4

4

Five tracked vehicles churn their way across the pristine snow. The two drilling platforms and three assorted cargo and people transporters. Their headlights illuminate the threatening, unearthly landscape. The convoy has already left the Piper Maru far behind and has almost reached the whaling station.

The lead Haaglund tops a snow rise and halts. One by one the others follow suit. Weyland disembarks, followed by the others. Around them, the snow is falling, slow and steady.

Quinn motions at the Haaglunds "Take those over a little further! Connor! Hold it guys ...Keep the engines running!"

"Hi." James smiles softly at the man who blinks and then looks away as he explains "In this cold the engines will freeze."

Rousseau says nothing and keeps smoking. She is an unknown element and Ianto Is still unsure why she is here. Maddy seems interested, Ianto watching her lean over her to sniff the smoke. If only the young woman knew who she was NOT impressing with her display of dominance.

James continues to speak "Be honest. You're a little disappointed that you didn't get the yellow jacket, aren't you?"

Rousseau quietly sneers "They give the newbies the yellow jackets so that when you fall down a crevice and die, it's easier for us to spot your body."

James nods and moves off.

Lovely girl.

Ianto fires a parachute flare into the air. It explodes in the air and brightly illuminates the Whaling Station in a cool green hue. He is really signaling the ship but covers this with a bored commentary "It's an abandoned whaling station. According to your satellite imagery Mr. Weyland, the pyramid is located directly beneath it."

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A dozen wooden buildings we recognize from the massacre we witnessed earlier. Some of them no more than shacks. All of them encrusted with ice and half buried in the snow. The team walk down "Main Street," illuminating the bizarre ghost town with their flashlights. It's creepy as hell.

"Spread out. We'll use this place as base camp." Max barks then turns to Quinn "Mr. Quinn. Begin operations as soon as possible."

"I'm on it." Quinn growls as Ianto impassively watches Maddy stalk after the man, no footprints left in the snow. Clever cloaking.

Weyland spreads a satellite photo over the hood of the Haaglund for Ianto, Jethro, Gordon, Max, Quinn and Verheiden.

"There it is. Clear as day." He says smugly. The familiar pattern of interlocking square shapes now easily visable. The tunnel connects them to the surface of the ice.

A scene of frantic activity. The team is preparing for a descent into the unknown. Ropes are dropped into the void. A winch and pulley system is being built over the mouth of the tunnel by Sven, Boris and Mikkel.

Gordon watches Quinn's team work. He scratches his head and pulls his woolen hat off in frustration. Ianto calmly demands without looking at him "Put your hat back on."

"It itches." Gordon snarls as he rubs as his head.

"I saw a man lose both his ears with frostbite. With the ear canal exposed, you can see a full inch inside your head." Ianto blinks slowly and Maddy's laughter is caught by the breeze as she is unable to resist her brother's humor.

Ianto smiles sweetly and walks away.

Gordon looks around and then hurriedly puts his hat back on.

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Ianto pulls open the door to the Haaglund. He thought the cab was empty, but instead Ianto finds Weyland sitting there alone. He's struggling, breathing from a portable oxygen bottle. Weyland lowers his mask. His power and wealth are instantly dwarfed by his vulnerability. Ianto looks him over.

They don't say anything for the longest time. Then, gently Ianto asks "What are you truly seeking here sir?"

"Just the chance of a new discovery Mister Jones" Weyland says with a soft drawl "Nothing more."

"You're not a very good liar, Mr. Weyland." Ianto hisses, knowing full well this man is a hunter and procurer of the unusual. The last thing he needs is a mad man with his own pet Xenomorph. As scary as a man with a nuclear war head.

Maddy is right. We have to stick close if we are to find the nest and quash this before it erupts like a bloody volcano.

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A long thin viewing window at the front of the spacecraft. Through it, an awesome view of the Earth spread out below us. Standing against the window - three Predators in silhouette along with a single human … his Great Coat casting a smaller yet equally dominating silhouette, outlined against the blue green globe. Weapons in their hands. The true hunters, preparing for the hunt.

They assemble their weapons. Metal pieces sliding together to form a Predator spear.

SWISH SWISH!

A blade cuts through the air. Its sharpness being tested. Bandages are wrapped around Alien hands, like ancient Gladiators preparing for combat.

Armor is slipped on, covering legs, face and torso.

In the background is a bank of computer screens. Their design all in keeping with the techno-medieval feel of Predator technology. A grainy image plays on the screens - it is a live feed, showing something that is occurring far below on Earth. It's our team, and they are being closely watched at the mouth of the tunnel.

The small avatar of Toshiko sits on the corner of the screen, watching everything intently as Jack loads the Webley with the special ammunition the Predators have offered with a kind pat to his shoulder.

He is Rumtuck's mate … they have to let him at least kill one.

Right?


	5. Chapter 5

5

They have reached the bottom of the tunnel down to the ice shelf.

Ianto stands shielding his eyes. Slowly he lowers his hand. Jethro turns to see what Ianto has seen. He stops dead in amazement. "Fuck!"

We still don't know what they have seen. But whatever it is, it's breathtaking. One by one, the team members turn to see why he made the sound. Each one is slack-jawed.

Towering above them is the pyramid. The hundreds of stone steps covered in shimmering blue ice crystals. The team looks like tiny ants standing before it. Two thirds of the magnificent structure is fully visible, the rest is buried in the translucent walls of the ice cave. It's an awesome sight.

"Congratulations, Mr. Weyland." Ianto sighs as he looks around "Looks like you'll be leaving your mark after all."

Ianto and Weyland share a look. Despite being short on breath, Weyland cracks a broad smile and turns to the group. "Thank you all for this. Let's make history."

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The team walks into an entrance that is located half-way up the pyramid.

Ianto illuminates a pictogram showing two creatures locked in combat (an Alien and Predator). He looks down and takes a bearing on his digital compass. Above the entrance are three lines of ancient hieroglyphics.

"I recognize the Egyptian." James mutters "Not the other two."

"The second line is Aztec. Pre-conquest era." Jethro points out "Third is Cambodian. Looks like a mixture of Bantu and Sanskrit."

Jethro catches Ianto watching him. "Impressed?"

Ianto snorts softly and turns away before the desire to cut his face off it too overwhelming. The thrill of the impending hunt Is making his blood boil ever so sweetly. Rumtuck shifts and settles.

"Then you were right. The pyramid does contain all three cultures?" Weyland asks.

"That's what it looks like." Jethro answers excitedly "This goes against every history book that's ever been written".

James is translating first line "...you may - choose - to enter. Those who choose may enter."

"It's like an ancient welcome mat." Gordon snorts.

Stepping forward Jethro demands "Who taught you to translate?"

"Funny, he looks just like you."James retorts.

"It's not "choose," guys, it's "chosen." as in picked" Ianto cannot help but correct them both.

Jethro steps up to examine the writing more closely. "Only the...chosen ones may enter."

Verheiden takes the first step through the entrance, stepping on an ornate stone tile which sinks ever so slightly into the ground. A hidden trigger of some kind. No one notices as the team enter one by one. Ianto carefully steps over a second one as he looks down at the first one, then glances back at his sister following silently.

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The computer onboard the Predator spaceship is still projecting the hologram of the pyramid. The humans are all represented by tiny holographic figures. The humans' presence within the pyramid has activated something deep within the structure.

"Tosh?" Jack says softly, "What is that?"

A vast chamber. At its heart, a deep pool of freezing vapor - not unlike the kind created by liquid nitrogen. Hi-tech chains of incredible tensile strength run from the ceiling and down into the vapor pool, disappearing from sight.

The trigger Verheiden stepped on has activated something and suddenly the chains start to move. They are pulling something up massive from the vapor pool. And slowly, majestically, she rises out of the freezing mist like some mythic beast -

AN ALIEN QUEEN. A GIANT OF HER SPECIES _._

And around the Alien Queen is built a grotesque machine, in which she is being held prisoner. A web of pipes and tubes which pierce her body in a hundred different places. She is literally part of the machine, the ultimate BIO-MECHANICAL synthesis. This machine which holds the Alien Queen prisoner, is clearly of Predator design, for it has all the familiar TECHNO-MEDIEVAL features. It could almost be some giant gothic torture device from the Inquisition.

As the chains continue to lift the Alien Queen into the air, we see that these shackles are attached to her every limb. There are even holes punched through the "crown" above her head, through which chains run. The lifting chains lock into place, leaving the Alien Queen suspended in mid-air, hanging above the floor of the chamber like some great dragon caught in flight.

It's a stunning, terrifying image. Close on the Alien Queen unmoving. Her head covered in a thin sheet of ice. Residue of the freezing vapor in which she has been stored.

SUDDENLY, THE ICE BEGINS TO CRACK!

Without warning, the twin mouths of the Alien Queen shoot out and begin to snap at the air. She is waking up. Her whole body struggles and strains against the chains. But in vain. Despite her immense size and incredible strength, she is a prisoner here.

Close on the egg sack below the Alien Queen, held firmly in place by the Predator machine that surrounds her. Almost as soon as the Alien Queen awakes, she begins to lay eggs.

Beneath the egg sack is an automated conveyor belt which takes the eggs away from the Alien Queen. She lays every fifteen to twenty seconds, feeding the conveyor with a steady stream of eggs. We now see that the whole chamber is one giant machine built to service the captive Alien Queen.

When the Alien Queen sees her eggs being taken from her, she goes BERSERK, straining against her chains to be free. But it is hopeless.

The Alien Queen SCREAMS in frustration.

Maddy swings to listen to it as the echo fills the pyramid like a soft whisper.

Rumtuck stirs again as Ianto straightens his back and his eyes flash with an inhuman light for a moment.

He looks at his sister.

It is happening.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Ianto drops a small strobe light behind him, then another. Ianto realizes that Jethro is watching him "They'll burn for six hours. We'll be able to find our way back."

He does not add, it's so the other team on their way can follow us into the abyss. No. Best not add that.

Ianto leads the team into the next chamber. Their flashlights illuminate a large chamber with an impressive vaulted ceiling and bizarre ancient imagery chiseled into the walls.

Seven mummified corpses lay on long stone slabs. Weyland looks at them then asks "These are..."

"Sacrificial slabs." Jethro finishes with wonder. "Just like the Aztecs and the Egyptians. Whoever built this pyramid believed in ritual sacrifice."

"It's almost perfectly preserved." Gordon enthuses as he examines one.

"This is where they offered the "chosen ones" to the gods." Jethro tries to sound convinced and asseritve, not totally freaked out "Those that were chosen would lie here. They weren't bound or tied in any way. They went to their deaths willingly. Men and Women. It was considered an honor."

"Lucky them." Ianto mutters. He runs his fingers around a circular, bowl like indentation at the base of the slab. "What's this bowl for?"

"Some think it's where the heart was placed after it was torn from the body." Jethro gushes but Ianto is looking at Maddy who taps at her chest for another reason.

Weyland's flashlight illuminates a stone grate on the bottom of the floor with small holes in it. Max strikes a flare and drops it in one of the holes. It falls but hits something below.

"What have you found Max?"

"It's a shaft to another level. Looks like another room down there." Weyland illuminates a huge pile of human bones. Many of the skeletons are still intact. "There must be a hundred people there."

"At least." Max agrees as Ianto loses interest and looks at Maddy once more, the hand gesture telling him the team was landing.

The others cluster around the mountain of bleached bones. James examines some hieroglyphics written on the edge of a sacrificial slab. He is translating "They gave their lives ... So that the hunt might begin."

"What happened here?" Rousseau is examining the ribcage of a skeleton. A hole has been punched through the bones.

"It was common in ritual sacrifice to take the heart of the victim." James sniffs.

"That's not where your heart is. Besides, it looks like the bones were bent straight out. Something broke out of this body." Everyone reacts to Rousseau's words. James finds something amongst the bones.

"Incredible. The entire skull and spinal column removed in one piece." James says as he holds it up for everyone to see.

"The cleanness of the cut... remarkable. Straight through bone. No abrasions." Gordon gapes as Ianto moves towards the door, listening for the telltale howl of Incoming.

"Did you hear that?"

The entire team looks around and then looks at Ianto.

Jethro and James can be seen isolated in a pool of light. They suddenly look very small and vulnerable as they stand away from the rest of the team. We hear a noise. Faint, nearly imperceptible, but there.

"Air... moving through the tunnels" Gordon says shakily.

"I don't know. Maybe." Jethro moves forward. Cautiously edging his way toward the source of the noise. The team shines their flashlights, they cut through the gloom like lasers as they illuminate the chamber. Jethro casts multiple shadows on the walls around him. If anything, the lights are making it even creepier. Gordon starts to handle one of the spinal columns hanging on the wall. "Be careful with that."

Jethro has to crouch as the ceiling of the back of the chamber slopes down dramatically. Around Jethro, everything is claustrophobic and dark. Something falls from above and lands on Jethro.

It's a creature with multiple legs and a long tail. Jethro fights it away from his face. He falls to the ground, and the creature is gone.

Ianto spots it on the ground. Jethro and Ianto walk up and kneel by the creature. Gordon pokes at it "Whatever it is, it's been dead a while. The bones have calcified."

He tests the legs of the Face Hugger. They are rock solid.

"You must have dislodged it from a crack in the ceiling." Ianto says distractedly already knowing what it was and dismissing something no longer a threat.

"No idea how long it's been here but the temperature has kept it preserved. Looks like some kind of scorpion." Gordon continues to poke at it.

"No. Climate's too hostile for a scorpion." Jethro replies "Ever seen anything like it?"

Ianto turns the Face Hugger over in his hands, studies it and shakes her head with annoyance. "Well, clearly it's a Face Hugger so …. If you don't know what this is you are woefully under informed as to the nature of the hunt."

Everyone is staring at him with confusion as he checks his sidearm.

Ianto illuminates another passage. Now inside and overdressed, Ianto takes off his jacket. "The ambient temperature in here is a lot warmer than ground level. You can take off your jackets."

Jethro, Gordon, Weyland, Connors, Max, Rousseauand James begin to remove their jackets. Weyland wants to keep the momentum going "Time to move on. Let's move to that lower room Max."

Max turns to the group. "Time to move out everybody. Mr. Jones? You seem to know something about this?"

Max motions to Ianto to take the lead. Jethro, Gordon, Weyland and Connors follow Ianto down a tunnel. Hanging back momentarily, Max gives instructions to James and Rousseau. "You, stay here. Rousseau, stay with him. Keep a team with you. Catalog everything."

"Let's go." Max leaves James and Rousseau behind and joins the others. James takes out his digital video camera.

Maddy is still in the room long after the others have gone. She sighs as she struggles with what to do. Does she tell them to go?

This is not her hunt.

It's Rumtuck's.

She moves on and leaves these ones to their fate.

They chose too.


	7. Chapter 7

7

At the whaling station Klaus is keeping watch. The storm has lost none of its fury, and he's huddled by one wall of the mess hall, trying to keep out of the worst of it.

Suddenly a figure emerges from the Whiteout. Klaus snaps up his Desert Eagle and points it at the intruder. "Hold it right there. Identify yourself!"

"It's..." Quinn finds himself staring straight down the barrel of the biggest handgun in the world. "Quinn!"

He tears off his hood and mask so he can be seen. Klaus lowers the Desert Eagle.

"What the hell are you doing?" Quinn demands angrily.

"Following orders. Weyland wants this area secured."

"From who?"

"Claim jumpers. The Russians, the Chinese..." Klaus falters "another corporation. Anybody could be out there."

"Trust me. There's nobody out there." Quinn continues on his way, struggling through the storm. He's checking on the equipment. Ensuring that everything is tied down correctly.

The building outside which Klaus is keeping watch is the Mess Hall. The Mess Hall is the closest structure to the mouth of the tunnel. The walls groan under the strain of the storm raging outside. Sven and Boris are huddled around a camping stove, boiling water for tea. At the back of the shelter, Mikkel is working on a space heater.

"When are you going to get that heater started?" Sven demands.

"It's coming ...it's coming."

Suddenly, Klaus on sentry duty sees something. In the depths of the storm, a flickering humanoid shape, given form by the flurries of snow.

"Quinn?"

But the shape keeps moving, and a moment later is joined by another shimmering figure. Predators. Headed for the mouth of the tunnel. And that puts Klaus and the others directly in their path.

"Quinn? "

Klaus brings up his Desert Eagle and takes aim. He has one of the figures in his sights.

The sound a GUNSHOT from outside. Then another has those inside reacting.

"Mikkel! Get on the radio! Now!" Sven yells. The door suddenly Blows open but nothing enters except a flurry of snow. Every man in the room draws a gun.

The blur of a cloaked Predator enters the room. One man is hit by an invisible hand. The force of the blow sending him crashing to the ground, his neck broken. In an instant, another man seems to be levitating! His feet are a clear three feet off the ground, and he is rising still further into the air. Gurgling noises are coming from the him. Only now do we see the shimmering humanoid outline behind him. A Predator has impaled the man and is lifting him into the air!

The last survivor draws a bead on the shimmering blur but is suddenly flung backwards with incredible force. Something has impaled him, slamming him back against the wall and pinning him there. His feet hang six inches off the ground. In his last dying moments, the man watches a spear slowly materialize in his chest.

Quinn hears what sounds like gun shots and runs toward the mess hall. Quinn appears in the doorway. "What's all the ..."

Quinn stops dead. The room is devastated. Quinn sees three bodies hanging from the rafters by their ankles. Quinn's lips move, but there is no sound.

A shimmering figure moving toward him. Humanoid but not human. Predator. The distinctive twin blades slide from the Predator's wrist. Quinn sees these blades perfectly, for the razor sharp edges are outlined with the steaming blood of dead men.

Quinn slams the door to the mess hall, but the spear slices straight through it, cutting his arm. Quinn has bought himself a few seconds. He uses them to run.

Quinn stumbles through the whiteout. Suddenly he runs straight into something. Looks up in shock to see - A DEAD BODY. What's left of Klaus. After that, Quinn sees three more bodies. All strung up by their ankles. Swaying in the wind. Quinn's entire team is dead.

Half buried in the snow, Quinn sees Klaus' gun. He reaches for it, but as he brings up the Desert Eagle a figure appears. Jack knocks the gun out of Quinn's hand. We prepare for a fight between the Captain and the one man who can probably fight him. Quinn finds a pipe buried in the snow and picks it up.

He charges Jack and swings at him but the Predator beside him swats it away as if it were a toy and backhands Quinn in the chest. Quinn goes down hard. He is stunned by the Predator's power. Quinn won't surrender. He starts to pick himself up but as he does the Predator steps on his leg, snapping it in half like a piece of wood resting on two rocks. Quinn screams in pain. The Predator kicks him in the ribs, sending him into the air and down the mouth of the tunnel! Quinn screams as he continues to fall!

"Hey!" Jack roars, "That one was mine damn it all Red!"

The cloaked Predator stands above the entrance to the tunnel. His outline flickering and changing with the eddies in the wind. He lets loose the Predator Battle Cry. And behind him, two more wraiths step from the storm. Jack is surrounded.

Jack activates his VM. Displayed on it we see a three dimensional representation of the Pyramid below the ice. From the very heart of the Pyramid there is an electronic pulse. A Homing Signal of some kind which the Predators are clearly following.

Ianto.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Ianto checks his digital compass. "We must be directly beneath the sacrificial chamber."

Up ahead there is a small amber glow. Weyland, Ianto, Jethro, Gordon, Max, and Connors enter in a vast chamber of some kind. They find the flares they dropped through the grate in the sacrificial chamber. They look up and quickly realize that the sacrificial chamber is directly above them, linked by a stone shaft of some kind.

"We're at the heart of the pyramid." Jethro guesses as Ianto turns away from them, seeing Maddy lagging behind for some reason.

Ianto sees something. The rest of them train their flashlights on the object. At the center of the room is a Sarcophagus. Fifteen feet long, four feet wide. Approximately the same dimensions as the Predator "missiles."

The ornate room is lit by flares in every corner. Jethro carefully examines the Sarcophagus. "Some kind of sarcophagus... Egyptian in design. These were built to protect the dead for their journey to the afterworld."

Weyland runs his hand over the Sarcophagus. It is encrusted with ice crystals, glittering in the half light. "Max, Verheiden. Open it."

Max and Verheiden move to opposite sides of the Sarcophagus. They push hard but the lid doesn't move. They dig in and push with everything they have but still nothing.

"Excuse me ..." Ianto steps forward Max and Verheiden take a step back as brains replace brawn. Jethro stands over the Sarcophagus. His flashlight illuminates three metal dials inlaid into the stone.

"What is it?" Jethro asks as Ianto looks down silently.

"Some kind of combination lock." Ianto kneels by a line of pictograms and hieroglyphics that run around the edge of the stone slab. He studies the designs. "This is The Long Count ... the Mayan calendar. Days, months, years."

He looks between the hieroglyphics and the combination lock.

"This must be the combination." Ianto illuminates the three metal dials on top of the Sarcophagus. "Days ... months ... years ..."

"But what date?" Jethro asks, Ianto again turning to look at Maddy as he realizes she is waiting for him to get it himself. His first true hunt … he has to get this right.

"The dials are set for ..." Jethro hesitates for a moment. Then he rechecks the hieroglyphics, not quite believing what he is seeing "Exactly one hundred years ago."

"Someone opened this a hundred years ago?" Weyland demands with interest, Ianto now more sure of himself as he rises to address him.

"Only one way to find out." Ianto turns the first of the metal dials on the top of the Sarcophagus. It moves easily.

"You sure this is going to work?" Wetland asks nervously.

"don't know." Ianto lies with a shrug, inside Rumtuck Is crowing as the tension mounts.

Ianto turns the remaining two discs. The entire team is stunned as the lid to the Sarcophagus begins to open UNDER ITS OWN POWER.

Everyone reacts as the lid finishes opening and slides to a smooth halt. The interior of the Sarcophagus is dark. There's no way you can see in without peering dangerously over the edge.

Ianto cautiously approaches the edge, and slowly peers inside. "Safe!"

"Take a look at this." Jethro squeals as he peers around Ianto.

The others crowd around the Sarcophagus. The interior of the Sarcophagus contains - GUNS. Three futuristic weapons of an alien design. PREDATOR DESIGN.

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Quinn's body lies near the tunnel entrance. He is covered in frost. Looks like he never regained consciousness and has frozen to death.

His eyes suddenly pop open. He's alive, but barely. His body temperature is incredibly low and his heart is barely beating. He can hardly move. Suddenly the frost around his face begins to crack and melt as this once fearless man sweats with undeniable fear.

Three Predators appear at the mouth of the grotto. They have descended the tunnel. They are headed straight toward him. Quinn tries to struggle away from them, but he is frozen stiff. All he can do is watch helpless as the Predators get closer and closer.

In their heat vision, the half-frozen Quinn is virtually invisible. They are blinded by the bright lights illuminating the pyramid.

Quinn is holding his breath.

He can't believe it as the Predators walk STRAIGHT PAST him. So close that he could reach out and touch them.

After a moment, Quinn cranes his neck to see where the Predators are going. He sees two shapes headed straight for the Pyramid

Just when Quinn thought he was safe, he turns around and sees the other member of their team standing right over him. He was never fooled, only waiting for Quinn to show himself.

Jack's smile is as Predatory as any Hunter as he raises the Webley.

This is his hunt too.


	9. Chapter 9

I have been asked why Jack would kill people, why he would be on this hunt. I reason that he is more like Javic ... his true self now that he no longer has to try so hard to be a good man. He is the man he would have been in his time at the agency. Hard, almost cruel to get the job done and in his eyes none of these people are innocents, not with a Weyland insignia on their clothing. We have no idea what his history books told him of this tie he is entering now, the havoc these creatures cause on many planets ...maybe we need also remember he comes from a family who had little in their small sandy world and maybe they knew of a hunt themselves? He definately knew the Predatirs on sight when he first got Ianto back. Ianto is one too ... assimilate or get left behind?

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9

Jethro and Max are standing over the sarcophagus staring at the futuristic guns. They're a little freaked. Gordon glances over at them "Any idea what those are?"

"Nope. You?"

"No."

"Good thing we brought in the experts." Max says sarcastically but Gordon bristles at the accusation.

"Hey. We just found the equivalent of a DVD player in Moses' living room. Why don't you give us a second to figure it out?" Gordon snarls.

"Well to me, it looks like sophisticated weaponry" Ianto whispers as he glances at Maddy for confirmation, clearly these are Predator toys. Right?

Gordon steps up and starts a basic spectral analysis of the metal, careful not to disturb the guns. His hand-held computer starts processing the information. "There are two chemicals here. Tilanium and Cadmium 240."

"Never heard of them." Jethro admits.

"They're found in meteorites." Ianto sighs as he leans back to 'listen' to Maddy's unspoken communicative hand signals.

"Meteorites?" Jethro gapes "Whatever these are, they weren't made here."

"When you say here, you mean...?"

"Earth." Ianto says flatly, "These are not for you earthlings."

Verheiden looks concerned. In fact everyone does - except Ianto. His eyes are focused on Maddy who is telling him what is happening here, the purpose of this underground lair. He tries not to panic as he realizes why she is following so closely. Ianto turns to the group "We've been out long enough for today. We're going to set up base camp tonight up at the whaling station and we'll get back at it first thing tomorrow morning."

"You can go back to base camp Mr. Jones. We're going to stay here." Max dismisses him with a wave of his hand and Ianto stifles a grin.

They still have no idea do they?

"You wanted to leave without proper prep and we did. You wanted to be the first here, we are. You've claimed the find. It's yours. Now we move as a team and we're done for today." Ianto says with a calm firmness "You have no idea what you have stepped in and you need me. By the Gods on High …. you need me here! You need to get the hell out of here, get topside and reassess!"

Everyone looks at Weyland to overrule him.

"You heard him." Weyland nods, both alarmed and excited to see the young man who until now has been dower and silent suddenly showing his colours. He knew what he was … well … knew he was Torchwood. Was not stupid enough to dismiss the only one here who might get him what he wants.

Or kill him.

The team starts out.

"What should we do about the guns, Mr. Weyland?" Max asks.

"Take them. We can run further tests on the surface." Gordon snaps as Ianto swung back.

"No...don't touch them!"

Too late. Connors reaches into the Sarcophagus and grabs the first two guns. Max reaches in and grabs the final gun but when the weight of Max's gun is removed from its place inside the chamber, a hidden trigger underneath it is activated with a deafening: CLICK! The click echoes around the chamber.

Everyone shares concerned looks as Ianto face palms.

For a moment nothing, then it happens. The walls of the chamber begin to move. Sealing up the old entrances, and revealing brand new passageways into and out of the chamber.

"Watch out! The doors!" Jethro yells with horror "Look out!"

Weyland is standing before what used to be a solid wall only now it is open to a long dark corridor. Ianto is standing there with a look of annoyance as he watches Maddy move towards it, motioning that it is the best route now.

"Jethro. That happens in all pyramids, right?" Gordon asks.

"No" he says drolly.

A large block of stone quickly starts to slide down and seals the entrance before anyone can get out.

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The Predators have reached the Pyramid. One of the Predators checks his wrist computer, Jack copies with his VM. The nature of the homing signal has changed. The electronic pulse has become more frantic and insistent. They exchange concerned looks. This clearly was not part of the plan. And the Predator's take off running, sprinting into the Pyramid.

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James, Rousseau, and four other scientists struggle with the stone blocking the entrance. Their attempts are in vain. They are trapped in the room, the rest of the team now cut off from them.

"Slab's gotta weigh two tons. We'll never move it." James' eyes have found something. "What is that?"

At the bottom of the sacrificial slabs, beneath the mummified bodies, an alien egg has suddenly appeared. It sits snugly in the bowl shaped indentation which Ianto had observed earlier. The stone slabs themselves are silently splitting apart, allowing the Alien Eggs to rise up into the indentations from within.

"There. Another." one of the team points "One more."

Now all seven sacrificial slabs have an Egg on them. There is a long silence _._ The first Egg begins to open.

One by one the other eggs begin to open. Rousseau pulls out a COLT.45, keeping it at her side. "What did you say this room was called?"

James gives a scared whmiper "The Sacrificial Chamber."

Rousseau brings up her handgun but it's too late. The Face Hugger is already airborne. The other six launch themselves simultaneously.

It's awesome to behold.

One of the Face Huggers is leaping directly at its intended victim. It's Rousseau. Terror frozen on her face. Then return to real time: In a split second, the Face Hugger completes its flight. Slamming into Rousseau's face, smothering her mouth, muffling her screams.

Their SCREAMS ECHO through the stone grate in the floor...

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A FRANTIC TORTURED SCREAM and SEVERAL PISTOL SHOTS are heard through the stone grate directly above them...as Ianto prepares to lead the team down the long dark corridor. A burst of bright light fill the room from above as it slices through the slats of the grates like lasers.

"Ianto! What's going on!" Gordon cries with fear.

Ianto swing to Max "Get hold of Rousseau and James"

Max grabs the walkie-talkie. "Rousseau? Come in, Rousseau."

Gordon barks into his walkie-talkie "James? Tommy. Come in! Tommy. Come in. James can you hear me?"

Jethro looks at Ianto. He shakes his head. So does Max.

"Nothing." Max frowns.

Fear starts to spread around the chamber.

Weyland is watching Ianto intently, and steps closer "Is there anything you didn't tell me about this place?"

"Well, whatever it is, we're not prepared for it. We're going to round up the rest of the team and get to the surface. Let's move." Ianto stares down the long dark corridor behind Weyland.

Maddy is shaking her head.

Too late little bug.

It's begun.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Max and Connors open an equipment case. From within they start to take an arsenal of heavy weapons. They are joined by three other men.

"What are you doing?" Ianto asks with annoyance.

"My job. Yours is over." Max slams a magazine home into his MP-5 - he does a lock and load with rapid precision.

"I told you - when I lead a team, I don't leave my team. My job is over when everyone is back on the boat safely and that gun doesn't change anything." Ianto snarls "That gun will only piss them off!"

"Mister Weyland?" Max demands. "Do we have to listen to him?"

Weyland looks at Max and Ianto. "He brought us here, he's getting us home. You and your crew back him up. He is here for a reason as well!"

Max nods, following orders. Around the room, a series of machine guns are quickly loaded. The sound of the mechanical loading and cocking of the guns echo throughout the long corridor. Max motions to Ianto who Is clearly annoyed "After you."

Ianto consults his digital wrist compass. "This bearing should take us back to the entrance. We make it to the surface and we regroup at the Whaling station."

"What about James and Rousseau?" James asks.

"We'll find them on the way out." Ianto says with finality. He knows what they will find, could have warned them but knows they will not believe him. Ianto leads the team through the long corridor.

"Stone ... Verheiden ... Cover our backs!" Max barks as he looks impressive, stalking after Ianto as Maddy steps to one side, still unseen as she sniffs him in passing.

Curious about this one Rumtuck has taken a disliking to.

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A Face Hugger lies beside Rousseau. 5 more bodies laying on the ground all with Face Huggers on them.

Rousseau wakes, in immediate agony. She claws at her chest. Something is trying to GET OUT!

With a spurt of blood, a CHEST BURSTER erupts.

Another set of Alien Eggs have appeared at the bottom of the sacrificial slabs, in the bowl shaped indentation.

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Weyland and his team have gone. An optical blur then a Predator materializes. He stares down into the Sarcophagus. We see it reflected in the eye sockets of his armored face plate. The Sarcophagus is empty. The Predator Plasma Guns are missing.

The humans have taken them.

The Predator intensifies the amplitude of his heat vision.

Slowly, boot prints begin to appear on the floor. The residual heat left by the team. The tell-tale prints leads away from the Sarcophagus to the long corridor the team is moving through. The Predators and Jack begin to follow the human footprints.

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A long corridor stretching off into the darkness.

They keep moving. Ianto's flashlight illuminates A gigantic statue. Then another. The corridor is lined with them.

Each statue is a PREDATOR WARRIOR carved out of stone. Gordon and Jethro stare up at one of these bizarre stone creatures. They're humanoid in shape, though much larger than a human being in size. Their heads are larger and they're wearing massive helmets. They're fierce, frightening and very powerful looking hunter/beasts.

"Dear God." Max whispers "What the hell are they?"

Many of the statues also show the Predators engaged in combat with another species... ALIENS. The statues portray the Predators battling the Aliens as if they were fighting dragons.

Max is staring at another elaborate drawing showing the predators carrying their distinctive plasma guns - the ones they're carrying. Ianto walks up behind him. "Recognize what's on their shoulders?"

Jethro examines the walls of the chamber. Ancient painted murals depict humans kneeling in supplication before the Predators. "We worshipped these things?"

"According to this we did." George agrees "And the artifacts you removed from the sarcophagus seem to be their weapons."

Ianto nods as he watches Maddy walk over to one, reaching out to stroke it's cheek.

Rumtuck's Great-Grandfather.

Hers too.

Ianto's too now I guess.

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From an obscure high angle a Predator Is looking down on the group of humans. The Predator zooms in, focusing on the backpacks carried by Max, Verheiden and Bass. Within the packs are the three Predator Plasma Guns. Maddy glances up at him and gives him a motion of warning.

 _Rumtuck walks here … keep back …. or I will put you down cousin!_

Ianto consults his digital compass. "Let's get moving. Just another 200 yards to the entrance."

They pass a Predator statue as the face of the statue softly distorts. It's not a statue. It's a real Predator. The human team have walked straight into an ambush!

Stone is bringing up the rear, MP-5 in hand. A noose suddenly drops around his neck, pulls tight, and drags him into the air. Stone dies silently.

Predator spear impales Bass. The force hurling him back with astonishing force, pinning him to the stone wall.

"Get down!" Ianto yells as Maddy swings to check who has joined them … clearly not her family, these unidentified ones are from another vessel. Now Ianto knows why this has all stared to happen. It's not Weyland poking about at all.

Another Predator family have come to poach on his family's hunt.

"What the hell was that?!" Coonr barks then a disc is spinning through the air, its razor-sharp edges catching the light.

"Down!" Ianto pushes Jethro to one side as the Predator Disc hurtles past. It strikes a Predator Statue behind them, cutting through the stone like it were paper. The head of the Statue comes crashing to the ground. Neatly decapitated. The fate that Jethro narrowly avoided.

Max carries an MP-5 in both hands, firing at an optical blur running across the chamber. Verheiden is also firing, filling the chamber with the deafening sound of gunfire.

"The Pyramid! It's shifting again." Weyland yells "The doors are closing!"

"Let's get out of here!" Ianto barks as he watches Maddy take on the other Predator.

The Pyramid has started to reconfigure once more. Thick stone slabs slide out from the wall, sub-dividing the chamber and splitting the human team into three separate groups. Each human trapped in their own newly created stone cell:

\- Max, Weyland, Jethro and Ianto.

\- Verheiden and Gordon.

\- And Connors, all by himself.

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Connor stares up at the walls. For the moment he is safe from the Predators, but there is no escape from this room. He's on his own and terrified. He pounds against the walls, screaming at the top of his voice. "Hello! Help me! Somebody. Get me out of here!"

Connors' cry for help is barely audible. But right now Verheiden and Gordon have their own problems.

"What are those things? Did you see what they did to Bass and Stone?" Connor hisses as he snaps his fingers "I hit that son of a bitch. Dead on. He didn't stop. He didn't slow down. He didn't even flinch."

"Hey! Verheiden." Gordon says calmly.

"What?"

"I'm no soldier, but...I think you should calm down. We're not dead yet."

"Thanks, professor."

"Actually, it's Doctor." Gordon sighs "And you're welcome."


	11. Chapter 11

11

Max, Weyland, Ianto, and Jethro are trapped in their own stone cell. Max and Jethro ease Bass' dead body to the floor. His backpack falls off. Weyland reaches for it and opens the backpack. The Predator gun within is unharmed.

Weyland is relieved "No damage."

Max glares at him over the body of Bass. His icy veneer and ferocious loyalty is beginning to crack at last. "One of our men is dead."

"I'm sorry, Max."

"I need to know what this man died for." Max demands.

"He died trying to make history."

"Whose? Yours?" the relationship between Weyland and Max holds on by shreds, the team threatening to break apart, Ianto and Jethro exchange deeply concerned looks.

Ianto knows what Wayland wants.

A Xenomorph.

He has no idea what the Predators are and clearly thinks he can still handle the situation.

Until Maddy and the others have things under control with this rogue cell … no-one is safe.

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The claustrophobia of the cell is eating away at Verheiden. He's pacing the room, making it seem even smaller. "We're never going to get out of this place."

"Don't say that." Gordon sighs.

"Whatever you believe in, you should start praying to it doctor."

Gordon looks at him. He takes charge and tries to calm him. "Hey. You have children?"

"A son."

"I have two. You know what that means? We don't have the luxury of quitting. We're going to make it out of here. You hear me? We are going to survive this if I have to drag you the whole way."

Verheiden looks at Gordon. The nerd has become a leader.

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There's no way out back there.

Jethro smiles at Ianto as the alarm on his watch goes off. The sudden sound makes them both jump.

"What is that?"

Ianto silences the alarm. "Just a theory."

In the distance a SOUND like ROLLING THUNDER. As it gets closer, the noise refines - it is the sound of stone scraping on stone.

"The Aztec calendar was metric based on multiples of ten. I'm guessing that the pyramid reconfigures every ten minutes."

Weyland and Max get to their feet as a stone slab slides into the roof, revealing a brand new exit from the cell. The labyrinth awaits. They eye one another, sharing the concern of the unknown that lies ahead. Then they move one by one as a team.

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Suddenly, a stone slab slides back, revealing a brand new chamber duct. Gordon peers into the darkness.

Gordon lowers his head and begins to crouch forward. The duct is narrow and tight. It's only a foot or two wider than his shoulders. "It would seem that we're rats in a maze."

Verheiden glares at the scientist. Annoyed that Gordon seems to be taking all this better than he is.

"Sorry." Gordon sighs as he sees the anger.

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Connors makes his way through a maze of pitch black ducts. He too has been released from his stone cell. He carries a flashlight in one hand, an ice axe in the other. Every fifty feet the duct splits in two. A bewildering array of possibilities. Connors drops his flashlight. He reaches down to get it and finds it covered in slimy Alien residue. Puzzlement turns to fear on Connors' face. Connors hears Gordon and Verheiden's faint voice.

"Hello. Can you hear me?"

"Who is that?" Gordon sound so far away.

"It's Connors. Where are you?"

Connors is petrified. He raises the ice axe, ready to strike. As Connors rounds a corner, his flashlight Illuinates something horrific. Connors' face is filled with shock.

Too late he learns about mimicry.

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Gordon and Verheiden continue to make their way through the pitch black duct. They hear Connors horrible screaming!

"CONNORS!" Gordon is leading Verheiden through the ducts because the nerd has now become the leader. Suddenly, a trap door opens and Verheiden falls through. "Verheiden? Verheiden?"

Gordon pounds in the area where the trap door grabbed Verheiden. "Verheiden, can you hear me?"

"Gordon! Get me out of here!"

"Hold on. I'll figure a way to get to you."

Verheiden settles in for a wait. As he does, he moves his hand back into a pile of skin from an Alien chest burster. Verheiden is startled as he feels the shredded skin and the slime from the blood.

In a distance down the duct, Verheiden sees A shadow of an Alien. Keeping his eye on it, he backs up and crouches himself into a corner, which he thinks is safe. Verheiden turns only to see a second Alien waiting right there on top of him.

A moment later, Gordon hears Verheiden's horrifying screams. He knows his friend is dead. Gordon looks up and is snatched by another Alien. In an instant he is gone. His torch drops to the floor.

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Ianto, Jethro, Weyland, and Max make their way through the dark underground maze. Max is ahead on point with his MP-5 machine gun. Ianto checks his digital compass. "If we can stay on this bearing, we should keep going up. If we can do that, we'll make it back to the entrance."

Ianto sees that Weyland is struggling, falling further behind. Weyland buckles under the weight of his backpack - the one containing the Predator Plasma Gun.

"Leave it. It can only slow us down" Ianto barks knowing Maddy will scoop it up immediately, is already reaching for it.

"Too much has been lost to walk away with nothing." Weyland snarls.

"Give it to me." Ianto takes the pack from Weyland.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Up ahead Max signals the group to halt. He beams his flashlight into the obscurity just as a Predator emerges from the darkness. Max begins firing. But the Predator also shoots. Materializing in mid-air before Max is a steel net. It knocks Max off his feet and envelops him.

He screams with fear as Ianto grunts and steps back to assess the newcomer. The net is pulling ever tighter around Max. The steel mesh cuts into Max's clothing and equipment, slicing through metal like it were paper.

Weyland struggles with the net, but lacerates his own hands. The mesh is razor-sharp. Jethro tries to cut at the net with a knife, but the blade just snaps against the strength of the Predator steel.

A second Predator appears suddenly behind Jethro and Weyland. They react, but Max's warning came too late. Ianto and Weyland are sent crashing to the floor. The Predator grabs Jethro by the throat and lifts him off the ground, choking the life out of him. With his other hand, the Predator raises a spear high above Max, ready to finish him off.

Ianto reaches for his axe that is wrapped around his belt but the first Predator is too fast. He backhands Ianto, sending him flying through the air. Ianto lands hard. The wind knocked out of him. He tries to struggle to his feet, but within seconds the Predator is on him again. A savage kick sends Ianto back to the ground. Ianto feels the rush of hot anger taking over as his eyes glow with determination.

Max is held fast in the ever tightening net. He shares a look with Weyland, only a foot away from him, winded and helpless on the ground.

"MAX!" Weyland cries with shock. It's the last words Max hears, as the Predator drives his spear clear through the net. The force is so great, the spear embeds itself in the rock floor beneath Max.

Ianto witnesses Max's death. Jethro looks to be next in line. He's helpless, being choked to death by the second Predator. Just moments from losing consciousness.

"Jethro..." Ianto struggles to get up but there's nothing Ianto can do. For he is too far away.

Twin blades slide from the first Predator's wrist. Even in cloaked mode, the razor sharp edges seem to catch the light. The Predator brings the twin blades up above Ianto's head. He is just seconds from being decapitated. Ianto tenses, ready for the blow. But it never comes.

Instead, the Predator convulses. Its cloaking device begins to spark, and the Predator starts to become visible. The sparking spreads out from the Predator's chest as he is lifted into the air!

Blood drips onto the face of Ianto. Green, luminescent Predator blood. As the creature hanging above him slowly becomes visible, Ianto sees that something has IMPALED the Predator. A WICKED BARBED TAIL sticks straight through the Predator's chest.

Slowly, an ALIEN unfolds from its hiding place in the ceiling. It has stabbed the Predator, the sharp point of its TAIL going clean through the Predator's armored chest. Now he knows why Maddy was waiting … wanting them to show themselves.

And now she has set her sights on big game. The Alien tosses aside the dead Predator hanging from its tail.

As Jethro and Ianto crawl away, the Predator uncloaks and the two fearsome alien warriors face off. There is a long moment of tense anticipation, and then the two Creatures charge!

The two beasts meet with a mighty IMPACT. The Alien's tail stabs at the Predator. She deflects it with her twin wrist blades, and they SLICE clean through the tail. The Alien HOWLS in pain. The Predator tries to stab the Alien, but the twin blades have been reduced to smoldering stumps by the Alien's acid blood.

Ianto and Jethro pick up Weyland and carry him between them as they make their escape. In the background, the two mighty beasts grapple, rolling end over end. The twin mouths of the Alien snap at the Predator's faceplate. Ianto drops Weyland and turns back "MADDY!"

She holds the Alien off, the teeth of the inner mouth barely inches away from her eyes. The Predator flings the Alien off. Gaining a moment's grace.

The Alien is clearly stronger than she had ever imagined.

The Alien charges again.

The predator fires a steel net that arcs through the air and envelops the Alien bringing it crashing to the ground. The net pulls tight, cutting through the Alien's armored hide.

The predator roars in triumph. But as the net cuts through the Alien, the Alien begins to bleed. And as the Alien bleeds, the net begins to smoke. The Alien's acid blood is eating through the steel mesh.

SUDDENLY THE ALIEN BREAKS FREE!

Its whole body smoking from where the net had cut into it. The Predator is caught off guard, and the Alien is on her in an instant.

The Predator is literally FACE TO FACE with the Alien. We see the Alien reflected in the mirrored eye sockets of the Predator faceplate. The Predator watches helpless, as the Alien's inner mouth is slowly revealed and then … Ianto slices through the Alien's smaller mouth piece with his own staff, screaming with rage.

"Run" Maddy gasps as she struggles to push the body to one side.

Ianto and Jethro help Weyland climb the stair case.

"What were those things?" Jethro was panting with fear and Ianto glances at Weyland, clearly the man is in shock.

"You tell me ... You're the pyramid expert." Ianto snorts as he watches Wayland finally see the shitstorm descending.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Now half way up the stairs, Weyland falls to his knees. He has started to hyperventilate "I have to stop!"

"Take it easy." Ianto croons. But Weyland isn't listening. He's in full panic.

"Look at me..." he grabs Weyland's head in his hands. "...you've taken too much air into your lungs. They're starting to freeze."

Not once does Ianto break eye contact with Weyland. "You have to control your breathing. Slow steady breaths. Slow... steady ... that's it."

Slowly he talks him down, and Weyland's breathing drops to normal. "I'm okay... I'm okay."

"Come on." Ianto hauls Weyland to his feet.

"No. I can't." Every word is an effort for Weyland. The frozen air has wrecked what's left of his lungs. "It's hard enough to stand."

Weyland slumps against the wall of the stair case.

"Weyland..." Ianto sighs "I'm not letting you die down here."

"You didn't Ianto. Go. I'll buy you whatever time I can."

At the bottom of the stairs, A looming shadow appears, humanoid in shape. A PREDATOR. Weyland sees him and grabs his ice axe and holds it like a weapon. Weyland walks down the stairs to fight the Predator.

"There's another one! We have to go! Now!" Jethro cries with fear.

"Go!" Weyland roars.

Ianto and Jethro see the Predator at the bottom of the stairs. Ianto looks at Weyland. His look conveys the sacrifice he's about to make.

"Run!"

Jethro pulls Ianto away. He exchanges one last look with Weyland as they run up the stairs. This was his choice, to go out with style. Ianto can respect that. Old man would rather go on his feet than his knees. OK. The Cancer in the old man stank to Ianto and he stepep dback to escape the sickly stench at last.

Human and Predator face off. Thos one has a horribly scared faceplate and there is a hint that perhaps the scar goes deeper than just the armor. Weyland draws himself up to his full height. He's going out with a fight. Weyland swings at Scar. Scar catches the ice axe and crumples it in his fist. Scar sees Weyland in his distinctive heat signature vision. Like an MRI, the Predator vision scans over Weyland's wrecked body, a body riddled with disease. Like stars in the sky, the tumors are everywhere. The cancer has destroyed Weyland.

Scar turns away from Weyland and walks up the stairs. To Scar, he's nothing but a sick animal. Weyland is not worthy of the hunt.

"Don't turn your back on me!"

But Scar pays no heed. Weyland sees that Scar is heading up the stairs after Ianto and Jethro. He feverishly reaches inside his coat, produces his oxygen bottle and an emergency flare.

Weyland opens the valve to the oxygen bottle and lights the flare. The gas immediately ignites and the resulting jet of flame engulfs the Predator. The Predator screams.

Maddy pauses between Ianto and this madman, turning back to watch the Predator react to the attack. Perhaps he is more worthy than a Predator might have thought. She cants her head, and then turns to check her brother is safe.

Still burning, Scar turns back to Weyland and kills him with his spear. Weyland dies a hero's death.

The Predator roars in triumph.

Ianto and Jethro exit the labyrinth. They hear the Predator's victory cry. Ianto stops.

"Weyland!" Jethro cries.

"You can't help him." Ianto yells as he drags him away. "We have to go."

They race into a vast chamber filled with rough hewn stone pillars and statues. The chamber is inky dark, but the pillars make it hard to see too far ahead. Anything could be hiding in here.

Ianto looks at his digital wrist compass. "We keep moving and stay on the heading. We keep it together. Make it to the surface."

Maddy is watching the humans move between the pillars. But Jethro and Ianto are not what the Predator is interested in. She zooms in on the Predator gun in Ianto's backpack. This is what she wants.

"It's moving!" Jethro yells as Ianto's alarm sounds. The stone walls have begun to reconfigure again. "Hurry!"

Ianto helps Jethro through the doorway. But by the time he is safe, he has to jump up and haul himself onto the slab. he scrambles across the top of the stone slab seconds before it seals completely. He just missed being crushed against the roof.

Just when we think the danger is over, and right before the slab completely seals the doorway, a Predator throwing disc cuts across the room narrowly missing Ianto and Jethro. The disc slams into the stone of the chamber, causing sparks to spray everywhere.

As he appears from the shadows. He stares at the solid stone slab blocking the doorway. For the moment he has lost his prey.

Something is watching the Predator. He senses something, turns to look at it. It's an Alien Face Hugger and it leaps for him... The Pred unleashes a throwing disc at the Face Hugger in mid-air and slices it in half.

But the danger is not over, for behind the Pred, unfolding from the pillar directly behind him is a fully grown Alien, jaws wide, ready to strike.

It has been there all along. Perfectly camouflaged. This new Alien rears up behind the Pred. Ready to strike.

The Pred looks like he's toast, but Maddy steps up with a throwing disc, spins around and in best samurai style lops the Alien's head clean off.

The Predator stares at her as she snarls aggressively at him then turns to look at the sealed wall.

Rumtuck is beyond her reach now.

She roars with rage.

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Ianto picks himself up from the floor. The walls and ceiling of this chamber are covered in hieroglyphics. This is an ancient library of some kind. They are trapped here. Both ends of the chamber are sealed off by heavy slabs of rock that are impossible to move.

A dozen small peepholes have been cut in one of the walls. They afford a glimpse into the Chamber of Pillar from which they have just escaped. Ianto joins Jethro at one of the peepholes.

Maddy is unseen, cloaked as she searches for an opening. Scar is reaching for her with anger, and then swings as something she can't see that must have gained his attention.

A Face Hugger flies towards him as Maddy grunts and moves from the room.

She must find Rumtuck.

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Jethro pores over the hieroglyphics carved into the walls and the floor. "I think this is a manhood ritual of some kind. The humanoid ones, they've been sent here to prove that they are worthy to become adults. Who knows how long these creatures live. Perhaps for thousands of years. However old they are, this is their rite of passage."

He traces a hand over the hieroglyphics. "That's why they didn't carry those guns with them to begin with. They had to earn them. Like a knight earning his spurs. The glyphs are a little difficult to make out but the story's all here."

"Yes" Ianto finally speaks, "Well done. We are in the middle of a rival gang war for the best hunting spot."


	14. Chapter 14

14

Gordon snorts as he wakes up. He doesn't know where he is. In horror, Gordon realizes he has been cocooned next to Verheiden and Connors. Connors is dead, with the rib cage already bent outward. Verheiden is barely alive with a face hugger attached to him. The tail is tightening around his throat. Verheiden's cocooned body is right beside Gordon. Protruding from Verheiden's cocooned body is his shoulder holster that contains his pistol.

An egg cracking with a Face Hugger inside. Gordon has just a few seconds.

Gordon reaches for Verheiden's gun but he's virtually frozen in place, trapped in the cocoon. He struggles, fighting desperately to get to Verheiden's gun. The face hugger is almost out. Gordon can't quite reach it. His only chance is just inches away from his fingertips. "Verheiden!"

Gordon sees that the face hugger is almost free. Gordon summons all his strength, fighting to get out. He grabs the gun just as the Alien Face Hugger for him. It's too late. Gordon is dead for sure. One second too late. But then somehow he gets a shot off at the last possible second that hits the Alien face hugger squarely. The Alien face hugger falls to the ground, still twitching. Gordon shoots it three more times killing it. Our favorite nerd is a hero! "Score one for the beakers!"

Gordon's adrenaline rush is assassinated by fear as he then sees the sea of eggs surrounding Gordon on all sides. And now he sees them. One by one the eggs begin to open. Gordon holds his gun in hand ready to fight, but his face shows the acceptance of impending death.

Just outside the Sacrificial Chamber we hear a few quick gun shots. Then nothing. And we know Gordon went down fighting.

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Ianto returns to spy through one of the peepholes into the Chamber of Pillar.

Maddy is gone. Where is she? Suddenly the Predator is looking at him through the same peephole, her eye an inch from his.

IANTO jumps back and barks with amusement.

Maddy stands calmly facing the doorway to the Hieroglyphics Chamber. She's waiting for the pyramid to reconfigure once more and the stone slab blocking the doorway to move.

"She's right behind that rock. Waiting for the door to open." Ianto points with a grin as Jethro looks at him like he's mad.

"I think when we took the guns we upset the order of how things work down here. We tipped the scales."

Ianto is relieved he is getting it and agrees "She needs her gun back."

"This pyramid, it's like a prison. We took the guard's guns and now the prisoners are running free. To restore order, the guards need their guns." Jethro just looks at him, more terrified than before.

"Don't ever use that metaphor again." Ianto warns "When the door opens we're going to give Maddy the gun. She will know how to use it, I don't."

"Are you crazy? You want a metaphor? During a big game hunt, the animals being hunted don't arm the hunters!"

"They're not hunting us. We're in the middle of a war. It's time to pick a side. " Ianto snarls.

"We're on our side."

"We have to consider the possibility that we might not make it out of here. Not with that attitude. The Predators can clean out the Xenomorph … if they can control the rival group that have gate crashed without the consent of my team." Ianto huffs.

Jethro looks at him with open confusion.

"But we have to make sure that those "serpents" don't reach the surface - because if they do - everything, everywhere, could die." Ianto speaks slowly "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The alarm on the watch goes off. In the distance a SOUND like ROLLING THUNDER. The pyramid is reconfiguring once again. Ianto nods to the heavy slab blocking the doorway in front of them, the one Maddy is behind.

But as the pyramid reconfigures, that's not the door that opens. The one holding her back remains sealed while another door opens up into a corridor where heading off to the left are the small strobe lights that Ianto dropped earlier marking their path to the surface, and heading off to the right is total darkness.

Jethro looks at the strobe lights stretching out into the distance. He locks eyes with Ianto. He sighs nervously. "Let's go find another way to our friends."

And Ianto and Jethro turns right, toward the darkness and the unknown.

Ianto and Jethro are back in the maze of stone corridors. Running through the semi-darkness. Around any corner could be a Predator. On any ceiling could be an Alien. They move quickly but cautiously. Frightened. Prepared for anything.

"How do you say scared shitless in Italian?" Ianto pants like he doesn't know it already.

"You know, there was a point I really liked you." Jethro laughs through his own shortness of breath.

Shockingly sudden: Ianto sees an Alien move ahead of them, blocking their way. Ianto and Jethro turn and run down another corridor as the horrible shadow of an approaching Alien can be seen behind them.

"Well … shit" Ianto snorts as he finally admits that it's time to man up … or … Pred-up or whatever.

He needs to do this.

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For anyone still not getting it ... there is another team of Preds down there that are not part of the family. This rival team are poaching and illegally on the hunt. They do not know Ianto is Rumtuck and see the humans as part of the game. The whole point of the pyramid is a game of chance and skill, no one is safe down there.


	15. Chapter 15

15

A deep chasm spanning the corridor. It is over fifteen feet wide. Ianto and Jethro see the chasm. They turn back to see the shadow of the Alien behind them.

"We're gonna have to jump it" Ianto barks.

Jethro nods. The fact that there's no other way doesn't make it any better. They step back to get a running start. Ianto and Jethro attempt the impossible jump side by side but Ianto's slightly taller body is ahead of Jethro and he lands first on the far side. The edge of the ledge Ianto lands on begins to give way from the weight of his impact.

Jethro lands a second later but because of the weakened ledge, the edge Ianto had landed on gives way. Jethro almost makes it. Almost. he hits the wall on the far side of the chasm. The impact smashes his ribs he grimaces in pain. But he manages to hang onto the ledge above him.

"Hang on!" Ianto reaches down and grabs Jethro with his right hand, stopping him from falling. "Hang on!"

He holds him there with just one hand and effortlessly begins to pull him up. Suddenly Jethro's face fills with terror.

Ianto just looks at him. "What?"

Unfolding from the shadows is a fully grown Alien!

Jethro is snatched the Alien and violently yanked into the air. Ianto is horrified. "JETHRO!"

Ianto doesn't even get a second to mourn as Jethro is yanked upward, his grip is pulled away and Ianto almost falls but he manages to hang on and not fall over the edge. Ianto takes a moment to absorb what he has just witnessed, knowing full well what is in store for Jethro. he lies on the ground, bruised and heartbroken.

He does not know if he is up for this. Then the faint echoing of gunfire. Ianto knows that one. A Webley.

Then deep down he feels a stirring in his gut.

Rumtuck is ready.

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..

Ianto is back in the darkened maze of stone corridors. he only has the pocket flashlight for illumination, and the battery is giving out. It's getting very dark, and he's getting very disoriented. he looks down at her digital wrist compass, but it has been smashed in the fall. It's useless.

"Damn it!"

Ianto makes a wrong turn and finds himself in a dead end corridor. he turns around and stops in his tracks.

Standing at the other end of the corridor, blocking his escape, is Scar. He holds a short metal tube in one hand. Suddenly both ends of the tube telescope out to form the Predator spear.

Ianto refuses to show fear. Rumtuck raises his head and hold firm. He lets the Predator advance, his own hand gripping the spear still attached tp his belt. He knows he has to be careful, this is not blood to him. This is of the other crew.

Ianto outlined in distinctive a heat signature. Scar zooms in on the backpack, to reveal the outline of a Predator gun within. This is what Scar wants.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Ianto repeats words over and over again softly, hoping the thing understands English. He then switches to Galactic Standard and it pauses to stare at him warily.

Without ever taking his eyes off Scar, Ianto slowly takes off his backpack. He holds it in his hand as Scar watches him. Ianto slides the gun across the floor. Scar picks it up. A beat. Then something suddenly moves behind him.

An Alien, just about to strike. Scar senses the movement just in time but he hasn't had enough time to mount his gun. He turns and brings his spear up in defense. The Alien has the upper hand however, and SLAMS Scar to the ground.

The Alien pressing its advantage. The inner mouth snaps at Scar's face. Just inches away. Scar rolls backwards, using the Alien's own weight against it. A classic judo move. The Alien flies over Scar and crashes into the wall beside Ianto!

Ianto lets his hands drop to his Predator spear just as the Alien rights itself. Without hesitation the Alien leaps at the nearest prey, Ianto.

The Alien caught mid-flight, leaping through the air toward Ianto. Ianto bringing up the Predator spear in defense. It's an epic moment. Suddenly, the Alien completes its flight with terrifying speed. The force and impact of the Alien is its undoing however, for it impales itself on the spear.

Ianto struggles to keep hold of the spear. He leans back, hoisting the impaled Alien into the air. The Alien refuses to die, however. Its own body weight is causing it to slide down the spear toward Ianto! Every second, the snapping jaws of the creature drop closer to Ianto's exposed face. Ianto shows no fear, maintaining the hold as he hisses at the thing.

The Alien impaled on the spear finally dies. His jaws barely an inch from Ianto's sneering face.

Three red dots of the laser sighting system appear on Ianto's face. he looks up to see Scar pointing the gun straight at him. There is a tense moment between the Human and the Predator. Then the three red dots slowly move off his face to the real target, behind him.

Behind Ianto are four Aliens, led by Grid, closing in for the kill. Ianto's mesmerized by the Aliens. They seem to flow over the ceiling, the walls, the floor. Scar shoots an Alien, vaporizing it.

They scatter as they see Scar shooting his gun with complete precision and accuracy. The Aliens have retreated for now.

The room is empty.

Ianto snorts as the Predator turns to regard him again … finally seeing the eyes of this small creature shine with something familiar.

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The Alien Queen is forced to watch another batch of her eggs taken away from her by the automated conveyor belt. The Alien Queen is going berserk, fighting against her chains, but to no avail. She lets out a piercing shriek that echoes through the Pyramid.

Scar and Ianto stand looking at one another.

"She sounds … angry" Ianto finally grins and Scar cants his head as he nods, turning to look in the direction of the shrieks.

Grid and the Aliens are watching from the shadows, laying in wait. Slowly his gaze moves into Scar's shoulder gun. It's the only thing keeping Ianto and Scar from being ripped apart. For now.

The leader of the Alien pack suddenly turns. Grid has heard his mother's anguished cry for help.

Scar moves in and looks Ianto over carefully. He could kill him in an instant and he knows it. He looks at him strangely. he stands there, terrified and defiant. And then he walks away, leaving him there.

"Hey! Hey!" Ianto runs up to him. He grabs him. He turns sharply. "I'm coming with you. You hear me you ugly son of a bitch? I'm coming with you."

Scar looks at Ianto. And Ianto does the most surprising thing. He simply opens his hand. Scar looks at this young warrior, wanting to fight, his hand outstretched and open.

And Scar places a Predator knife in Ianto's hand.

Scar wastes no time. He takes his own sacrificial dagger and begins to cut up the body of the dead Alien.

Prizing the armored hide away from its internal organs. Scar works with speed and precision.

Ianto is both intrigued and repelled. "What are you doing?"

Scar pulls the armored head plate of the Alien away from the rest of its body. He lays it carefully to one side. It is now completely hollow, like an empty shell. Ianto can see that the long twisted Brain of the Alien is still pulsing and twitching. Even dead like this, the Alien is amazingly menacing. After all, how do you really know when an Alien is dead? Ianto leans in for a closer look and - WHAM! A claw snatches at his face.

Ianto jumps back with a giggle of nervous laughter. But the Alien makes no further movement. Maybe it was some kind of reflex action? Ianto looks from the Alien to Scar. The Predator holds his dagger over the brain of the dead beast. He prods a lobe of the Alien's brain and the same claw snatches at the air. He scared him deliberately. A Predator joke. Ianto manages a half smile- more spooked than funny - that's...great. Scar returns to his work.

"What are you doing?" Ianto puts a hand on Scar's arm, stopping his work. Scar stares up at him. Clearly not used to being touched. A tense moment. For a second, it looks like the Predator may tear Ianto in half, but then he grabs Ianto's spear. Scar dips the tip of his sacrificial blade in the body of the Alien. Then, holding the blade above the handle of his spear, he lets a drop of Alien blood fall. The acid blood immediately begins to eat its way through the handle of the spear.

Next, Scar holds the blade above the long piece of Alien hide that he has just torn from the dead creature's body. Scar lets a drop of Alien blood fall. The acid blood rolls harmlessly off the Alien hide, like it were just a drop of water. The acid doesn't react with the Alien's own armor.

Scar looks up at Ianto, as if to say - "Get it?" Ianto nods.

"Keep it together ..." Scar speaks.

"Deal." Ianto nods as he moves to prepare for the next step.

Scar accepts his new partner.

Scrappy little thing.


	16. Chapter 16

16

Ianto and Scar stand side-by-side. Two warriors ready for battle! Ianto is wearing the armoured plates cut from the Alien for protection. Ianto also carries a shield fashioned from the head of the Alien. Scar carries his Predator spear and plasma gun and Ianto holds the coolest knife you've ever seen - made from the razor sharp barbs of an Alien's tail.

Rumtuck moves in Ianto's mind almost sensing the Aliens and Ianto whispers "They're close ..."

Ianto and Scar share a long look. Together, they make a fearsome sight. Ianto nods. He nods. And the two warriors begin the hunt.

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The Alien Queen hangs from her chains, a prisoner. Slowly, dark figures emerge from the shadows of the chamber. Aliens, her children. Led by Grid. They almost seem to bow in supplication to the Alien Queen.

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Predator and Human run side by side. Scar is clearly starting to accept Ianto as something of an equal. Ianto slows and then halts. Something on the ground catches Ianto's eyes. It's Gordon's camera and it's laying on the ground, covered in blood. Ianto kneels to pick the camera up. He holds it in his hands, slowly wiping the blood away. Ianto flips through a few of the digital photos that Gordon has taken on this trip. The last photo Ianto stares at is the one that he showed him on the helicopter: Gordon standing arm in arm with his two sons.

"Gordon!" Ianto yells.

But there is no reply.

"Gordon!"

Ianto stands and stares into the darkness. He shines his flashlight, piercing the darkness to find in horror the three cocoons that hold the dead bodies of Gordon, Verheiden and Connors. What's left of their rib cages are already bent outward. The Chest Bursters long gone. Verheiden's, Gordon's and Connors' faces are all frozen in a grotesque rictus. Ianto mourns and kneels down by their bodies and finds Gordon's handgun. He studies the gun as he hears something.

It's very faint. A ghostly ECHO. At first, he can't make it out. But then, to his horror, Ianto realizes what it is - His name. Repeated over and over.

It is coming from a cluster of stone statues close by.

Ianto advances on the statues. Eyes straining to see in the half light of the chamber.

Up ahead there is one statue in particular. Some kind of grotesque beast. It seems impossible, but the voice seems to be coming from this statue.

"... help me, Ianto ..."

Ianto draws closer, and only now does the horrific truth become clear. What Ianto thought was a statue is alive. And what he thought was a beast, is a man - Jethro. The Alien had not killed him, but instead, encased him in some kind of monstrous Alien cocoon.

"Jethro!" Ianto sighs.

Jethro is held tight in the cocoon. In front of him an empty Alien Egg. He's clearly in a lot of pain.

" get me out of here." the man sobs.

"NO! Jethro, it's too late. I have to stop these things!" Ianto shakes his head sadly, "They can't get loose, they will overrun the bloody planet."

Jethro screams in agony. "Ianto...I…understand… they... can't... reach... the surface."

Ianto nods slowly. "I know."

His skin is starting to stretch tight. An Alien Chest Burster is about to break free. Without hesitation, Scar targets his weapon. The three red dots of the laser sighting system appear on Jethro.

"No!" Ianto blocks Scar's shot. "No ..."

Behind him, Jethro screams again. Ianto turns to face him, tears in his eyes. he brings up Gordon's handgun. "Do it."

Ianto can see it in his eyes - death would be a mercy. "I'm sorry."

There is a loud boom of a Webley and Ianto is stuck experiencing the horror of this moment entirely from his tortured perspective. Jethro's agonized screaming comes to an abrupt end.

Scar watches him closely. From his reaction, he appears to respect him more and more with every decision he makes.

"Ianto!" Jack takes a step towards them, his eyes on the unfamiliar Predator who swings to face him.

"No!" Ianto says again, strongly now "This is my mate. MY MATE. It's OK. He is …. along for the game."

Jethro's dead body slumped on the floor. His body begins to convulse. Jethro's skin begins to distend. The Alien Chest Burster leaps through the air. With lightning-fast reflexes, Ianto catches it.

He holds the newly born Alien up to his face. He turns it in his hand, examining it. Its teeth snapping at his face. Unbelievably vicious. Then in one simple move, Ianto casually SNAPS its neck between his fingers.

Just like it were a matchstick.

"What now?" Jack asks calmly like there is not a giant Predator now sniffing his hair with Interest.

"Now? We hunt!" Ianto snarls as he lifts his shield, "Come on Cariad, I want to take this home to Tucker. Will make a wonderful toboggan."

"Ooooo" Jack swaggers past the Predator who seems frozen with surprise, the smell not what he expected.

He then follows the two little vicious things with open interest.


	17. Chapter 17

17

Grid and the rest of the Alien children leap upon their mother. Their claws and mouths tearing at her flesh in a frenzied attack. The Alien Queen begins to bleed. Her hissing, burning blood flying everywhere. Her acid blood begins to eat through the chains. And only now do we realize what the Aliens are doing - They are not trying to kill their mother, they are trying to free her!

The Alien Queen shrieks both in pain and triumph. The grotesque, terrifying sounds echoes through every chamber and corridor in the Pyramid.

Scar hears the Queen's blood-curdling scream as it echoes through the entire pyramid.

Ianto witnesses a first - a scared Predator.

"What was that?" Jack hisses as he clutches Ianto's hand.

"Keep it together. Make it to the surface." Scar replies In Ianto's voice, Ianto nodding.

"Wait." Jack stops "We can't let these things get out of here."

Scar presses several buttons on his wrist computer. There are several loud beeps. A cluster of predator symbols instantly appear on the wrist computer. Scar shows it to Ianto. He shakes his head. Scar makes a tight fist with the hand that the wrist computer is on. Then uses the opposite hand to point to the wrist computer. Then Scar slowly unfurls his fist indicating an explosion.

"That thing is a bomb?" Jack splutters.

"It's a bomb?" Ianto asks and Scar looks at him and unfurls his hand again.

Maddy steps around the corner, her relief evident as she rushes to him, lifting him up to shake him as she scolds with clicks and grunts.

Ianto slaps at her as Scar watches with open shock. He does not know if this hunt can get any weirder.

Ianto points to Scar and Maddy nods, explaining to Ianto what is going on and Ianto realizes that it is Rumtuck that is translating her even If he could not Scar.

Ianto nods, understanding Scar's plan completely. He looks at his own wrist computer and activates the countdown. He removes the wrist computer/bomb from his wrist. He holds it in his hand "Well, I hope it kills every fucking one of them. Are our team out?"

She nods and motions to show they are the last.

Ianto hands Scar his own wristlet and the Predator joins them into a ball. Scar throws it deep into the chamber.

And Scar leads them out, leaving the wrist computers behind as they begin to count down. They follow behind Scar as they race through the darkened maze. The pace is brutal.

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The first of the Alien Queen's limbs break free from the weakened chains. Then another, then another. The Alien Queen, wounded but magnificent, drops to the floor of the chamber. Free at last.

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Ianto is doing his best just to keep up. Scar stops at an intersection. He seems uncertain for a moment, and then he heads to the right.

"No!" Ianto has stopped at the intersection. He isn't following. Jack and Maddy look at him with silent question as Ianto points "This way."

Ianto heads to the left. Stepping over one of the dying strobe lights he left earlier - his path back to the surface. After a moment, Scar follows the Humans and the female Predator who is stunning.

They are still running. Ianto can see a pinprick of light in the distance - the entrance to the Pyramid.

Aliens, racing through the darkness. Barely glimpsed in the half light. Grid is at their head. And behind the Pack, wrapped in darkness, something huge and monstrous - THE ALIEN QUEEN.

They emerge from the Pyramid and race toward the mouth of the tunnel - their escape route back to the surface.

As Scar turns, an Alien claw cuts into his shoulder smashing his plasma gun!

AN ALIEN HAS MATERIALIZED OUT OF NO WHERE.

The Alien is hunched over Scar's back. A blur of teeth and claws. Maddy screams with rage, reaching for her own weapons as Jack seizes Ianto "RUN!"

The wrist computer bomb continues ticking down - there's almost no time left.

Ianto grabs the spear from Scar's side and shoves it into the Alien's mouth.

"You are one ugly motherfu..."

As Jack pulls the trigger of the Webley shoved into its open mouth and blows the back of it's head off.

A second Alien, "Grid" appears and rushes the sled. Grid smashes at them. Scar reaches for his throwing disc and drives it into Grid's crown, wounding him badly. Acid blood pours from Grid's wounds, splashing Scar and burning through Scar's armor. Scar's wounds are brutal but not deadly.

Grid and Scar are locked in deadly combat. Grid is clawing at Scar, with blow after pounding blow. Scar throws Grid back against the wall of ice.

Maddy grabs Scar and they tumble back together, into the sled.

Even with the weight of the Predators and the two men, the sled is still much lighter than when loaded with equipment. The result - instead of a slow, steady rise to the surface, the sled takes off like an Express Elevator out of Hell. Literally snatching them from the clutches of the Aliens.

The speed with which they ascend is incredible. The breath is knocked out of them. Ianto can barely speak "Hold on Cariad ..."

The sled leaps from the tunnel. Smashing into the winch rig with a MASSIVE IMPACT. They are all thrown clear.

Ianto lands hard in the snow but he is oblivious.

He has been knocked unconscious by the impact.


	18. Chapter 18

18

On the surface, the katabolic storm has blown itself out to be replaced by a heavy sea mist. The mist reduces visibility to no more than a hundred and fifty feet. The dark buildings of the whaling station loom menacingly out of the gloom.

Far below, but with surprising speed, the Alien Queen is ascending the tunnel. Razor sharp claws cutting into the ice, giving her purchase. And clambering over her, even riding on top of her, are her children. Leading the hungry pack of ravenous aliens is GRID!

Jack helps the groggy Ianto to his feet. Scar pushes Maddy on, running through the whaling station.

The final seconds of the bomb tick away...Behind them, Grid appears at the mouth of the tunnel.

Grid is the first Alien to reach the surface. He HOWLS for Scar's blood. This has been a personal grudge match between the two of them. He is about to leap forward when suddenly -the world WHITES OUT as the Predator Bomb finally explodes.

The blast wave from the Predator Bomb hurtles up the tunnel.

The snow around Grid's feet vibrates with the force of the coming explosion. Grid turns back to look down the tunnel. The growing fireball is reflected in the shiny opaque dome of his head. Grid has only a moment to try and turn away before the fireball hits him with full force.

He is BLOWN TO PIECES.

The massive fireball sweeps across the whaling station, setting buildings alight and throwing a rain of flaming debris into the night sky. The force of the explosion throws Ianto and Scar to their knees.

A giant shockwave shudders through the snow, AND THEN THE GROUND BEGINS TO GIVE WAY! The ice cave and Pyramid beneath Razorback Point have started to collapse, taking a huge chunk of the mountain range with it. The mountain peak directly above the pyramid is sucked down into the bowels of the Earth.

The collapse of Razorback Point is spreading outward, like ripples in a pond. It is starting to consume the whaling station. Building after building is sucked into the abyss. The drilling rigs, the base camp, are all quickly swallowed from view. As buildings collapse all around them, Scar forces Ianto from her knees and they begin to run once more. The snow and ice at their feet starts to CRACK and give way. No matter how fast they run however, the cracks are already spreading ahead of them.

Then the very ground beneath their feet begins to give way.

Ianto is lying in the snow, looking up at the sky.

Ianto rolls over to see - Maddy and Scar are lying on the very edge of a giant crater. At the edge of the crater, huge chunks of ice stick into the air like shattered teeth. Apart from a handful of burning buildings, the entire whaling station is gone. All that remains are smashed timbers, the iced-over harbor and the Separator - the giant vat for boiling whale blubber that she and Jethro once discussed.

Ianto struggles to his knees. It's hard to see the full expanse of the crater through the mist, but it's vast. Far below lay the wrecked timbers of the whaling station.

The snow around them hisses and melts where chunks of Alien carcass have landed. One of these chunks looks familiar. It's a piece of Grid's head - his signature pattern clearly visible. Scar leans down and picks something up. He carries it over to Ianto. He still wears the Alien Tail Spear and Shield slung over his back.

Ianto is still dazed, and it takes a moment for him to realize what is happening. Scar pulls a trophy Alien finger from his belt. He holds it, still dripping acid blood, right in front of his face.

Jack speaks up "No. Our kind to not mark our faces. Ah…."

Ianto pulls open his clothing to expose his chest Instead, Maddy nodding her approval.

Ianto tenses in pain, but makes no sound, as the Predator begins to "blood" him. Burning the distinctive Predator warrior scar into Ianto's right peck with the acid blood of a dead Alien. he has earned the mark of a warrior.

SUDDENLY BEHIND THEM, THE ALIEN QUEEN BURSTS FROM THE SNOW!

None of her brood have survived, but the mother lives, and she's out for blood. They are showered with chunks of ice and snow.

Scar reacts with lightning speed, cocking his Wrist Guard and firing two sharp blades into the Queen's neck. A second later he flings the last of his Throwing Discs at the Queen. The disc cuts through her throat, opening a gaping wound. He catches the disc and throws again. Chopping a chunk of the Queen's crown off.

As Scar reaches out to catch the disc, but at the last second - The Alien Queen's Tail whips around, smashing into Scar, flinging him into the remnants of a wooden building. Scar survives the impact and falls to the ground. He tries to rise, but a further blow from the Queen's tail drives him back to the ground.

The Alien Queen closes in on Scar to finish him off.

Ianto gapes as Maddy swing to snatch his alien tipped spear from him, then take off after the warring creatures.

Her tail hovers above Scar's prone body, ready for the killer blow.

As Maddy charges the Queen. Driving the tip of the Alien spear into the Queen's neck. Into the very wound that Scar had opened with his throwing disc. Ianto leaps after Maddy, seizing the spear for extra weight as Jack is left gaping now.

The Queen screams in pain as Ianto twists the blade, opening the wound still further. The Queen attempts to crush Maddy, but she shelters beneath the Queen's own body. Ianto is showered with acid blood, but it rolls off his shield fashioned from an Alien head.

The Queen Whips suddenly to one side. Ianto keeps a hold of his spear for a moment, and is lifted off the ground. But his grip can't hold and Ianto is flung away. He lands hard, losing his shield.

The Queen struggles furiously with the spear still embedded in her neck. Finally she pulls it loose, but in her frenzy, she loses balance, CRASHING into a still burning building.

The Queen rises from the flames. Furious and ready for vengeance. But Ianto is gone!

Ianto shelters behind the giant skeleton of a whale as Jack shields him with his own body. Around them a striking landscape of bleached whalebones loom from the thick mist. Maddy can HEAR but not SEE the Alien Queen. Somewhere out there she is moving through the mist, on the hunt for Ianto. The sound of her giant footsteps echo all around. It's creepy as hell. Maddy creeps silently as well, like some weird dance.

Ianto's eyes strain in the gloom, but the Queen cannot be seen. Her footsteps however are getting closer.

Without warning, the Queen lunges from the mist. Looming right above Ianto!

The Queen is right on top of Ianto, her jaws snapping as Ianto and Jack run, then Ianto takes a sudden turn to the left as he jerks Jack with him "MADDY!"

The Queen is just too big and going too fast to be as agile as them. The Queen attempts to turn, her teeth missing Ianto by inches, but in an instant she overbalances and crashes across the ice in a spectacular explosion of snow and whalebones.

Within an instant however, she is back on her feet and hungry for blood.

The Queen's giant legs eat up the distance between Ianto and herself in a matter of seconds. Maddy slams against her. The Queen impacts with the nearby structure, almost ripping it from the ground and causing the Separator to drop three feet instantly, nearly crushing Ianto and Jack.

The Alien Queen starts smashing through the remaining supports using her claws and tail.

Ianto and Jack watch helplessly as the two creatures struggle, Scar running in to join the fight.

Ianto takes Jack's hand, his fear for Maddy clear.

And for them all.


	19. Chapter 19

19

Flying through the air in a giant Predator leap!

Ianto drives his spear clean through the side of the Queen's head and lands in the snow beside Maddy in full Samurai pose. Ready for battle. The Queen howls in pain, and for a moment, she is too distracted to fight any further.

Jack sees that many of the restraints that had held the Alien Queen prisoner are still attached to her body. Jack drags one of the long chains still attached to the Alien Queen and attempts to hook it onto the Separator - still teetering on the edge of the cliffs.

His plan is clear. The Separator will fall at any moment, dragging the Queen with it into the harbor. The only problem is that these giant chain links are just too heavy for him to lift.

Maddy appears beside Jack, helping him lift the chain and hook it onto the Separator. Scar reaches out, his hand next to hers as he assists. For a glorious moment they work side-by-side. Scar is there to motion something but suddenly Scar convulses as the tail of the Alien Queen punches clean through his chest! He is hoisted off the ground, the vengeful Queen looming above him.

The final remaining leg of the Separator finally gives way and the separator tumbles down the hill. The chain pulls tight and drags the Alien Queen with it.

Jack and Ianto leap clear and turn to watch as Scar is flung free from the Queen's tail.

The Separator hits the pack ice covering the harbor. It cracks the ice, but doesn't break through completely.

The Alien Queen is dragged to the edge of the cliffs but not into the freezing depths below. A spider web of cracks spread out through the pack ice. The ice is weakening, breaking up, but not fast enough.

The Queen makes one last lunge for Ianto, like a dog on a chain. Her jaws come within an inch of Ianto, who is backed up against the torn remnants of a building, with nowhere to run. The Queen strains at the end of her chain, her inner mouth shooting out, snapping right in front of Ianto's face, threatening to tear it clean off.

The pack ice finally cracks, and gives way under the strain. The giant metal vat slips through the ice and is sucked into the water below.

As the chain pulls tight. Dragging the Alien Queen away from Ianto. The Alien screams in protest, but there is nothing she can do as she is dragged into the harbor by three tons of solid iron.

On the pack Ice the Alien Queen is dragged across the ice and through the gaping hole made by the Separator.

Beneath the ice, everything is silent. Ghostly. The Separator hurtles down, like a giant anchor headed straight to the bottom. It is followed by the length of chain and then the Alien Queen.

The Alien Queen is dragged down into the dark. Into the abyss. Eventually disappearing completely from view.

Scar lies in the snow. A fallen warrior. Bloodied and broken, but dying with honor. Maddy cradles his head in her hands.

Scar reaches for his ceremonial dagger, but is just too weak. Ianto helps it into his hands, and for a moment Scar holds the blade before his own chest. Almost as if he intended to stab himself. It's a striking image, but one that makes little sense until Ianto gets it rising to run for the pieces of Alien and Jack crouches to watch with curiosity as his love plunges his own knife into the Alien chest, rising to run back with acid dripping in the snow.

"Ianto! Your hands!" Jack rises with horror.

And then Ianto slams it Into the Predator as Maddy opened bag sof powders, packing them in as well. A Hail Mary if ever there was one. They all watch with baited breath as Maddy places more bags over her brother's ruined hands..

Scar is still.

"did it work?" Ianto hisses as he shakes his hands free..

"Gods, your hands" Jack repeats, the leather gloves Ianto had worn now burned away and his skin blistering as he plunges them into the snow for relief.

For a moment, the storm seems to reduce in fury. The sky clears to reveal the PREDATOR SPACECRAFT hovering directly above the remnants of the whaling station. On a low rise overlooking the battleground stand three dozen Predator Elders.

They had seen everything.

Four more Predators pick up Scar and carry him toward a long ramp leading up to the belly of the spacecraft. A hand is raised in farewell.

Ianto stares at the army of Predators. There is a tense standoff as Maddy and her crew stands behind Ianto and Jack, their anger clear in their stance.

A Predator Elder stares at the Human man. He sees the distinctive Predator warrior scar on his exposed chest. The same scar that he and all the others wear. Then he nods in respect as he sees the flash behind this human's eyes of a fellow warrior. As the rest of the Predators file back onto the Spacecraft, the Predator Elder hands Ianto his spear. The gesture has the feeling of ancient ceremony about it. The message is clear.

Ianto has become a senior hunter.

Ianto takes the spear.

Maddy swells with pride as her brother is given office as an Elder.

And the Predator Elder turns back to the Spaceship. As he turns, the Predator Craft is starting to fire up. Causing a snowstorm beneath the ship.

Ianto is covered in blood and bruises, holding the warrior's spear and marked with the Predator warrior scar, Ianto has never looked more formidable. He seems more Predator than Human. Jack's mouth is watering as he looks at his entirely fuckable mate.

They watch the Spacecraft as it rises into the heavens, becoming lost in the storm.

Ianto looks up to the heavens. A break in the storm reveals a giant full moon hanging in the sky. The moon he had been looking at just the other night with Jethro.

"... Hunter's Moon." Jack whispers.

The Predator Spacecraft glides past our Moon, headed away from Earth, into deep space.

"Come on Cariad" Ianto finally speaks "Let's go home."

"Agreed" Maddy huffs as her own vessel descends.

She must learn the fate of their new friend.

Rumtuck may have won that battle too.


	20. Chapter 20

20

Ianto does not go for the meeting with Her Majesty. To be honest … he's had enough of queens ta.

Tucker is in love with the Xenomorph things his Tadda got him and is currently sitting in the shield, rocking back and forth as he watches the Muppets on telly, humming as he drinks from a sippy cup. Yeah …. Forward wee tyke, eh?

Ianto knows Maddy is upset with how this went, Scar is a good …ah…man. Although he did survive with Iantos' quick thinking there is still no word on his recovery. Those powers are an amazing thing though, his hands healing as he knew Scar must be as well. And speaking of scars, these ones itch a bit. His hands look better though. Ianto rises and scoops up his bug, heading down to the pools where he knows the scars will stop pestering him, as well as the bug who loves the water.

Weyland was a surprise. Like the TV version, this real life one they based him on was all he cracked up to be, dying with style. Now the squabbling has started between those many wanting a piece of his estate and Ianto is glad he can step back from that, the payment made to the dummy corporation already returned.

Seemed like the right thing to do. After all, he did not complete the mission. Did not get him the thing he wanted most, even if he did see one up close and personal.

"Hey" Jack's voice is soft as Ianto looks up at him.

"Hey"

"You OK?" Jack crouches and reaches out to touch Ianto, his fingers brushing the skin in a feather light touch. This familiar reconnect soothing as Ianto nods to show he is … really. Just … Rumtuck still stirs in the dark recesses of his mind. Still active and bloodthirsty.

"All go OK?" Ianto does not answer the question, deflecting as per usual.

"Yes, she was upset to hear of so many deaths … on both sides but is grateful the threat was contained. She did ask after you and Bug" Jack smiled, "As always I told her you were fine … sooo fyyyyne."

"Stop it!"

Jack smiles as he shucks off his clothing to enter the water and join his lovely mate. He knows Ianto is dwelling as well, the 'other' him still present in the room. Jack ponders what this means for them and finds … it's OK really. It's OK.

He can share.

Some.

It feels right somehow, this hunt. He avenged his Great Grandmother. Ya know? He wonders as he cuddles into his mate if she would have liked him then snorts as he knows she would have.

Great-Grandma Ellen would have loved Ianto to death. That alien uniqueness to her would have liked his Predator touch. But Gods she had been scary even as a wizened up old lady, almost two hundred before she died. Jack holds onto that too.

They live longer and to learn that human DNA grabs the longer lifeline is something he clings to fervently.

Ianto might even live forever.

Why not?

Predators he has met have been hundreds of years old.

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Thanks for reading.

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The End.

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For now?


End file.
